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Employment Litigation

Employment Litigation

During an employment litigation case, computer forensics can be the lynch pin in the plaintiff's or the defendant's case. Emails, file transfers, and HTML caches are some of the "smoking guns" found during computer forensics investigations that have helped dismiss or settle cases. Some investigations reveal deliberate efforts to hide or destroy information and can lead to claims of spoliation. Willful destruction of electronic evidence often leads to a summary judgment against the offending party along with sanctions including court costs, expert fees and legal fees. Spoliation is a serious matter to the court and is dealt with seriously.

Forensicon can help ensure electronic data is preserved correctly, and can assist you in developing your discovery process, examining the other party's forensic evidence, assisting with depositions, and providing expert testimony on your behalf. If your client is found to have the other party's property, Forensicon can help minimize and mitigation risk exposure.

Employees who sue their current or former employer often allege discrimination, harassment, wrongful termination, or compensation irregularities.  Sometimes, plaintiffs fabricate evidence in support of their case before leaving and filing litigation.  Establishing the facts by conducting a forensic examination of the computer used by the plaintiff can be crucial to managing an effective legal defense and can be pivotal to obtaining a prompt resolution and avoiding protracted litigation.

Many lawsuits filed by past employees result in counter claims following a forensic examination of the employee's work computer.  Common findings or outcomes following a forensic examination have revealed:

·         Discovery of Theft of Company's Digital Assets

·         Misuse of Corporate Property

·         Denial of Unemployment Claims

·         Criminal Prosecution for Fraud or Other Statutory Violations

After a key salesperson was dismissed by a small business owner, a dispute arose over unpaid commissions and vacation time. The employee produced an electronic version of an employment contract that was exchanged via email. Multiple versions of the contract were identified during discovery, each with subtle yet important differences made to the company's standard terms. Forensicon analyzed the various versions of the files, including the email used to exchange them, which ultimately identified the authentic and agreed upon contract, vindicating the employer.

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